The MINI GP Roadster

Just the tip

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When I stuck the landing with the old car, on the rear end, one casualty was the rear section of my Milltek exhaust. The pipes out of the mufflers, to the tips, were badly bent, and one tip was mangled. I was waiting until the car was otherwise operational, to take it to the shop and get that fixed. Finally, the planets aligned, and there was a dry day, when I had time, and the shop had 1.75″ stainless pipe.

First, chop out the mangled stuff.

Then fabricate some new pieces of mandrel-bent 1.75″ stainless, slip-fit over the existing pipe so it could be rotated to the perfect position. TIG weld in place, with a brace, and add the original GP0769 JCW tips.

I intentionally had them protrude a bit more than they do on the OEM JCW exhaust, because I like the way it looks. The tips are affixed with set screws like the JCW exhaust, so I can adjust them later, if I change my mind.

Kudos to RJ’s Custom Piping in Raleigh, for doing a great job salvaging a mangled exhaust. They also built my custom center section that mates up to my RMW race header.

While the car was on the lift, I played around with the battery box skid plate / diffuser. I scored a set of new Group4 diffusers, but I know they won’t fit with the current exhaust configuration. As I looked at things back there, I thought I could probably fabricate something that would improve the airflow, short of a true “diffuser” setup. Playing with the OEM battery box plate, I think I can make something perfectly functional out of three of them, that will create smooth airflow from the underbody panels back to the rear bumper.

I’m going to get a couple more of these plates and see what I can do. Stay tuned.

Yes, this is backwards…

I have this sorted chronologically from the beginning, to the most recent posts, so it reads like the story of GPR769. You won't see the most recent posts first, like most blogs. If you'd like to skip ahead to the newest posts, pick the month you want to start at in the Archives index, below.